"I don’t think about it too much. I hope I’ll be prepared [for the future] somehow, but it doesn’t feel real. He’s the man I fell in love with because his brain is there," she said.

"He has a bit of a problem moving, but we still laugh and talk. I pray, I believe," said the 59-year-old Puerto Rican former Miss World winner. "The main thing is that he’s doing well. The pain is more emotional; sometimes we cry, but mostly we laugh."

When Wilnelia was asked whether she thought he would ever perform again, she said "I really hope so."

The pair had been planning to travel to Puerto Rico together for New Year's Eve, but the trip has been postponed."He’s in incredible shape mentally but he gets very tired," Wilnelia said. "He doesn’t want to do anything until he’s 100 per cent well. I respect that.”

The veteran entertainer, who first appeared on TV in 1939, stepped down from presenting Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, after 10 years hosting the programme. Len Goodman, another member of the show's original team, described his "sadness" at the time: "He's somebody that everyone has grown up with – I remember him doing Sunday Night at the London Palladium when I was 13 or 14," said Goodman.

Goodman is now also set to leave BBC One show: in July, the 72-year-old announced he would be leaving the judging panel at the end of the present series, prompting rumours that dancer Anton Du Beke could take his place.